Thanh Xuan Cafe — Restaurant in Vancouver

I saw the reviews or rating here were quite good and high, so I gave it a try and came here for lunch today.

The restaurant was empty around 12. But once we had sat down, more customers came. The customer service was not good unfortunately. Only one server or the owner took care of all the customers and took the orders. I saw there was only one chef in the kitchen. The customer service was slow because of lack of staff.

The menu was one page double sided. There were not many options. I would like to order the steamed handmade paper rolls with pork and shrimp but the server told me that I had to wait for a long time, so I ordered a bowl of fish paste cake in noodle soup instead. I was kind of disappointed because I came here for the steamed handmade paper rolls. I saw a table next to us ordered the steamed handmade paper rolls. They did have to wait for the dishes.

The bowl of fish paste cake in noodle soup arrived. The presentation of the bowl was average. The soup base was very light like chicken soup. The celeries were full of black things surrounded them. I spit out the black part because I didn’t feel comfortable eating it. The fish paste cake was okay. Overall, this bowl of fish paste cake in noodle soup didn’t make me feel “wow! It tastes so good.” I had an excellent eating experience of eating the same dish at Hoang Yen on Victoria Drive. Hoang Yen’s fish paste cake in noodle soup was X times better than this one here. Hoang Yen’s soup base, colours, texture, flavours, presentation and the quality overall were much better than this one. I am not exaggerating. The owner or server of this Vietnamese restaurant should visit Hoang Yen and tried their fish paste cake or squid cake in noodle soup. Hoang Yen’s is really so much better.

As you can see, I may not come back here to eat again. First of all, I couldn’t eat the dish (steamed handmade paper rolls with pork and shrimp) that I wanted. Secondly, I could eat better dishes at other Vietnamese restaurants in the same neighbourhood.

There are parking installs in the complex, street parking and an underground parking. But Kingsway is a busy street and the parking stalls in the complex are always full and it is small and compact. Be careful when you drive to...

Thanh Xuan Cafe is a Vietnamese restaurant in Vancouver, BC, specializing in authentic Vietnamese cuisine, particularly known for its Banh Cuon (steamed rice rolls) and Bun Rieu Cua (Vietnamese crab & tomato noodle soup). It's a small, cozy spot with a focus on traditional flavors and fresh ingredients. They focus on Northern Vietnamese dishes.

Banh Cuon (handmade rice noodles with pork and shrimp filling, served with fish sauce and herbs). Bun Rieu Cua (tomato broth with crab, pork, and other fresh ingredients).

The seating is REALLY limited like 5 tables. So you’ll have to get there early if you want a seat. This place pumps out A LOT of take out!

Keep in mind there are two old ladies working in the back. Quality takes time and trust me they never rush quality. The whole Vietnamese community helps out here. I’ve seen customers grab a rag and start cleaning tables and bringing dishes back to the kitchen. If I'm seated and see people come in, I even started grabbing menus for them to their tables.

This place is cash only It’s one of the best dive hole gems in Vancouver. If you ate with a blind fold on you would think you’re eating at a fancy Vietnamese modern restaurant.

Definitely the best place for hand made by the order Banh Cuon in Vancouver seriously....

Two of us dined-in and ordered 1 portion of the large rice roll for $20. I am aware that the service here is slow and not great. Due to lack of staff. However when it came time to pay I was told it was $20 for take out and its $25 for dine in. According to them the $5 additional charge was a "service fee". What kinda service did they even provide - Anyone who goes here knows that they provide less service than a teenager working for minimum wage at at a fast food chain.

No mentions of the additional dine-in service fee anywhere.Thats a 25% "mandatory gratituity fee" for doing nothing. Should either have it mentioned somewhere or add it to the pricing on the menu if you want more money.

Unfortunately its hard for me to support local business when a customer like me finishes my meal feeling robbed and scammed.

Dissapointed that a place with good rice rolls attempts at such unethical practices.

Shameful and...